Electric switch.



Patented Aug. 8, |899.

:(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY II'. CURTIS, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 630,667, dated August 8, 1899. Application filed November 5, 1898. Serial No. 695,528. (No model clear, and exact description.'-

This invention relates to specific improvements in electric switches ofthe general type illustrated in the accompanying drawings, Vast numbers of switches of this general class being employed for circuits Where electric lights are used and where electric currents for many other purposes are employed. In

vView of the necessary duplication or multiplication of the switches the matter of simplicity and cheapness' consistent with efliciency and durability is of great importance. Heretofore most generally these switches have comprised upstanding fdrked or bifurcated contacts or pole members and a hinged switching-bar or switching-frame comprising one or more parallel blades and an operating insulated handle, all mounted on a base or switchboard of slate, marble, or other suitable nonf' conductingmaterial, and in such switches the blades have been usually constructed of copper or brass bars having considerable thickness. In some cases the contact-receiving or pole members of the switch have con sisted of upstanding single tongues, plates, or bars, and the' hinged part of thc switch has consisted of single or duplicatedr sets yof paired separated blades held together yagainst distance-blocks or separating-pieces; butin this latter-mentioned form of switch, in which the paired members of -each bar are swung down to contact on the opposite sides of the single upstanding tongue or contact-receiving poleemember, the paired blades or members of eachof the bars have necessarily been of considerable thickness, as necessary to impart the required rigidity to the swinging portion of the switch.

The object of this invention is to produce a switch of the general class referred to which will fulfil all requirements in respect of safety, certainty of operation, and durability,

and which will necessitate `much lessk weight of the comparatively expensive copper orv brass, thereb'yfo'r that reason lessening the cost of the switch very materially, and which by reason of the specific form and mode of production of the parts permits that they may be stamped out of unusually thin sheet brass or copper in a punch-press, whereby the production may be one of great rapidity l and uniformity.

The invention resides in a switchcomprising an upstanding singletongue orat-sided post to constitute a terminal or pole vfor a circuit and a second pole member combined with a switch-bar, the same consisting of a single blank of sheet metal bent into U form, whereby opposite parallel longitudinally-extending cheeks or blades are constituted, united by an integral intermediate bridging and reinforcing back, the so-formed switch-bar being piv- .v

otally hung upon one of the upstanding posts and adapted when swung down upon the other to have the inner sides of its cheeks 'contact against the opposite sides of the other lupstandingsingle tongue or post. l

The invention furthermore consists in a certain recessed formation at the back of the sheet-metal U-shaped double-cheek switch? bars, whereby they are adapted to be comprised in double-throw switches; and the invention furthermore-consists in other specific construction and combination of parts, all substantially as will hereinafter fully appear and be set forth inthe claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying Y drawings, in which thel present switch im# provements are shown as exemplified in a double-pole double-throw switch as termed in the. trade.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a switch designated above. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one'of the switch-bars. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a punchedout sheet-metal blank from which the double-cheek bar is integrally produced. Eig. 4 is a cross-sectional viewof the bar. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional View of a part of the switch.

Similar characters of reference indicate cory responding parts in all of the views.

In the drawings, A represents the base of the switchboard, having the upstanding con- IOO ductor members d a and the upstandingpairs of. contact or pole members bA b and c c.

B B'represent paired switch-bars united by the insulating cross member d, having the handle c, the inner ends of said bars being pivotallyhung to the said parts da. As usual in a double-pole .double-throw switch of this kind the switch-bars B B maybe swung so that the wires was, joined to the parts a c, may through said bars form connection either with the wires y g/ or the wires Each of the conductor and contact members or angleposts a, b, or c is formed of a single blank or plate of suitable metal, comprising base portion 10, the vertically-downturned lip or flange l2, and the upstanding contact or conductor portion 13. Each angle-post is placed with its base member 10 resting on the switchbase A near its lateral edge, with its depending portion 12 lying iatwise against the vertical edge of the said base A.

frepresents the clamp-plate, combined with each angle-post, the same consisting of a reetangular blank of brass or copper having its inner end angularly turned and having its center perforated.

g represents the clamping-bolt, the head thereof being set within the countersunk opening therefor in the under side of the base, the shank passing upwardly through the base portion l0 of the angle-post and through the plate f, receiving at its upper screw-threaded end the nut 7L, which clamps the partsfand 10 together to bind the wire firmly at the corner where portions l0 and 13 of the angle-post meet, this device also insuring the firm retention of these parts with the use of but a single bolt and nut, which, as seen, in conjunction with the angnlarlyturned vertical lip, insure that the angle-post will be held rigidly and Without any liability of turning on the switch-base.

In the more comlnon construction of the corresponding pa rts of the switch two bolts or screws have been necessary to secure the engagement of the contact or pole member on the base, and a third one has been required to insure the conlinement of the conductorwire; but this silnple means, whereby all of the stated conditions and purposes are provided for and served, contributes materially to the practical value and utility of the switchboard.

llach switclrbar is formed of a single recta-ngular blank of comparatively thin sheet brass or copper bent along its median longitudinal portion to produce a bar which in transverse section is ol U form and having the opposite side members orchcehs l5 lo and the intcffrally-l'ormc(l unilii'lgand reinforcing back lil.

'l'he end portion ol' each double-checked switch-bar ll is straddlcd over the upper end of the upstanding angle-post of the conductor or contact member e, so that the swinging nio tion ol.' the bar on its connecting-pivot ,1.7 will bring thcehecks orscparatcd blade portions l5 l5 down in contact over and against the sides ot' the upstanding tongue memberll of the tcrminals or pole members b b', and in the double-rbi rnvswilch, comprisingthepolc member c in the same plane of swinging movement of the bar B and of the member b, the back 1G of the double-bladed U-formed switch-bar is recessed, as shown at 18, whereby when the switch-bar is thrown over from contact i) to the one c the apertured portion of the bar permits contact to be made by the same services of the blades onmember c as was made by them on member b.

This invention is applicable, of course, in a single-throw switch-that is, one in which in addition tothe contacts a', to which the switchbar is jointed, there isa contact or contacts at one end only of the switchboard, and, as manifest, the invention is applicable in switches of this general class' having greater or less capacity for circuit-changing, ranging from a single-pole single-throw switch to a doublethrow triple-pole or multiple-throw multiplepole switch.

In Fig. 3 the form of the blank from which the double-cheeked switch-bar for a doublethrow switch is'produced is shown, the opposite side portions outside of the longitudinal dotted lines being the parts which constitute the double parallel separated cheeks of the bar, while the middle longitudinal portion between the dotted lines constitute the cheekuniting and switch-bar-reinforcing part.

For the double-throw switch in addition to the recess 18 a second recess 19 is produced at the pivoted end, whereby the switch-bar may be completely overturned.

Inaslnuch as the blank of the form substantially as shown, may be most rapidly, easily, uniformly', and cheaply produced by stamping out in a punch-press from very thin metal and because each double-bladed switchbar B when turned into the U shape has all required rigidity, I am enabled to pla'ee upon the market an improved switch at lessened cost, because of the decreased bulk and weight of metal needed and because of the novel mode of its mechanical construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an electric switch ofthe character described, a base of non-conducting material having an upstanding tongue or flat-sided post or pole member as b, and a conductorpost, d, aswitch-bar pivoted to the post a, and consisting of sheet metal bent along its centrallongitudinal portion into U form, providing opposing separate double blades having for substantially their entire length the integral uniting and reinforcing back, and adapted to be swung to bring the inner sides of its opposite blades in contact on the outer opposite sides of the pole member or tongue Y), substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

L. ln a double-throw electric switch, the base having secured thereon between its ends the conductor member a, and near its opposite ends the npstandlng flat-sided tongues or pole-posts, a switch-barhavingits onccnd IOO IIO

pivoted to the member a, and consisting of sheet metal bentA on its central longitudinal portion into U form providing double opposing separated blades having the'int'egral uniting and reinforcing back, and provided near its end with the recess through such back,

substantially as and for the purposes set.

forth.

v3. In an electricswitch'of the class described, a non-conducting base, and two sets of post or pole members, and a set of cone l scribed, the combination with the base A, of

ductor-posts placed midway between them, combinedl with a switch bar consisting of sheet metal bent along its central longitudi. nall portion into U form, and which lis provided with openings 18 through which either set of post or pole members pass, whereby the switch-bar may be used in connection with either set, substantially as described.

4. In an electric switch of the character dea 'conductor` or pole member, composed of al thin bar or plate, right-angularly bent twice in opposite directions,aud constituting the upstandiug tongue or flat-sided post 13, the horizontal base or rest 10, and the vertically-4 depending iiange 12 engaging facewise the edge of the switch-base A, the clamp-plate j" 5. A switch having two upstanding tongues I b b, two upstanding tongues or contacts a a, two switch-bars, each consisting of the sheet metal bent along its central longitudinal portion into U form providing opposing separate double blades, having for substantially their entire length the integral uniting and reinforcing back, said blades being pivoted at their one end to the contact members a,

cross-bar d of' insulating material, and provided with a'handle and adapted to operate as described.

Signed by me, at Springeld, Massachu setts, this 1st day of November, 1898.

HENRY H. CURTIS.

Witnesses: WM. S. BELLows, M. A. CAMPBELL.

' and having theirtopposite ends united by the 

